Refrigerated display case for chilled pastries and servings of food



June 7, k1955 R. E. MEDEARIS REFRIGERATED DISPLAY CASE FOR CHILLEDPASTRIES AND SERVINGS OF FOOD Filed July ll, 1952 INVENTOR: I

Robert E. Medearis A T TOR/VE Y.

Unite States Patent O REFRIGERATED DSPLAY CASE FOR CHILLED PASTRIES ANDSERVINGS OF FOOD Robert E. Medearis, Nashville, Term.

Application July 11, 1952, Serial No. 298,288

6 Claims. (Cl. til-895) This invention relates to a refrigerated displaycase for chilled pastries and servings of food. More particularly itrelates to an attractive refrigerated pastry-display case designed forconvenient mounting on the counter behind the waiters in counter-servicerestaurants, for their quick and easy access to the food. Still moreparticularly it relates to a refrigerated pastry-display case designedfor quick and' easy insertion of an air-cooling and -circulatingapparatus which is preferably a prefabricated unit built according tothe invention of this specification.

Refrigerated display cases of the prior art have been generallyunsatisfactory. The types using air-cooling and circulating systemsltend to dry out the food due to the passage of the greatly dehumidiedair over the displayed items. The types employing gravity circulationalso dry out the food, less by the air-velocity effect but more by theexcessive dryness of the air resulting from the need of employing coldercoils (usually ice-coated) where the circulation is slower. Thecoldshelf type unevenly cools the displayed items. And all types havelacked the compactness and space-efhciency needed for mounting on theusual rear counter of counter-service installations.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a refrigerateddisplay case that effectively cools the displayed food servings with aminimum amount of dehydration.

f It is another object to design a refrigerated display case that iseicient both as to quality and quantity of the display andas to spacerequirements and utilization.

lt is a further object to provide a refrigerated display case that iseconomical in initial cost, operation, and repair (or replacement) ofthe wearing parts.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent as the following detailed description proceeds.

In the drawings, in which like reference characters f refer to the sameparts thruout the several views:

Fig. l is a front elevational view of a preferred embodirnent of theinvention.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevational View of the refrigerated display case ofFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view in section taken on the line 3 3 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan View of the device of Fig. l, the parts beingprogressively broken away upwardly and forwardly from the right rearcorner.

With reference now to the drawings, the numeral 1 generally designatesthe cabinet structure, which is preferably formed of plywood or otherfabricated boards so as to be proof against warping. A base board 3supports the two boards 5 and 7 and the front half-panel 9, these partsbeing joined by nailing, gluing and/ or other suitable expedients. A toppanel 11 rests on the end boards 5 and 7.

A chamber for the sealed motor-and-compressor unit M is formed by anupright board 13 and a top board 15 both fastened to the front panel 9.Also fastened to the front panel 9 are the partitions 17, 19 and 21, the

2,709,899 Patented June 7, 1955 last-mentioned constituting the bottomof the refrigerated display space. These partitions 13-21 (except 21which is preferably removably supported on brackets, not shown) arefirmly fixed when the rear panel 23 is nailed against the rear edges ofmembers 5, 7 and 11-19. It should be noted that the rear panel 23 doesnot touch. base panel 3, its lower margin lying along the bottomsurfaces of partitions 15, 17 and 19, which define the floor of thecooled part of the cabinet'. Beneath this iioor and resting onV the baseboard 3 is the platform P for the refrigerating apparatus now to bedescribed.

The platform P carries on its left end (Fig. 2) the sealed-unitmotor-compressor M. Over the right rear corner of platform P, thecondenser C is carriedv by a bracket' 31 attached to the platformA asshown. Between the condenser C and the motor-compressor M, theevaporator or cooling unit E is mounted on a closure panel 33 whichcovers opening 35 in the rear panel 23. A sealing andvibration-absorbing gasket (not shown) may be interposed betweenoverlapped margins of closure 33 and opening 3S. Panel 33- is attachedto platform P by a shorter bracket 37'. The evaporator unit E alsoincludes a fan F by which air is forced over the cooling coils (notshown) and thru the circulation system of the cabinet later to bedescribed.

The three basic units of the Prefabricated refrigerating apparatus arethus mounted on platform P and do not need to be attached to the cabinetproper. The platform is merely slid into place resting on the base board3; and as it is slid into place, compressor M, cooler E and condenser Cmove into the positions shown. Only the thermostatic switch T needs tobe attached to the cabinet proper. This merely requires boring a hole toreceive the control knob K (accessible for' adjustment thru the frontdoors of the cabinet) and possibly a second hole for thermal-couplingvbetween the thermostat bulb and the interior of the cabinet, as shown,altho one large hole could serve both purposes, if the adjustablecontrol is mounted' in the heat-exchange area of the device. For a moreaccurate temperature control., the bulb B of the thermostatic controlcan be mounted adjacent to the air-outlet 40, as shown, instead of inthe control unit. For still' more sensitive control, two interconnectedbulbs can be used.

It should be notedV that the base andl end boards of the cabinet extendrearwardly beyond the rear panel 23 to form a four-sided housing for thecondenser, brackets, electric wiring 41-43, and refrigerant and fluidconduits i5-48. This housing forms, with the usual wall against whichthe display case is set, a convection flue, open at its top and suppliedwith cooling air near its bottom thru openings O, covered by louvredplates L. The top of the flue is preferably covered by a wide-meshedscreen or grill G, tilted, as shown, to prevent its being inad vertentlycovered by cartons, displays, etc.

The removable partition 21, which forms the bottom of the display spaceand the top of the refrigerating airduct, terminates at both ends a fewinches from the end boards 5 and 7 to form inlet and outlet openings forthe circulated air (how paths being indicated by arrows). To channel thecooled air to the top of the display space a duct-forming plate 51 isemployed. This plate 51 carries brackets S3 by which the (glass) shelvesS are supported. Duct-forming plate 51 terminates short of the top panel11 to form an air inlet opening S5, and shelves S are several inchesnarrower than the width of the display space whereby the cooled airflows downwardly past both edges of the shelves to form a cold blanketwhich keeps the food servings cool but which minimizes the dehydratingcontact of the air-streams with the food.

The visible exterior and interior surfaces are preferably covered withsheet stainless-steel, Monel metal, alumiarcanes L# nurn, etc., but theymay be enameled or otherwise surfaced. The cooling ducts may be linedwith corrosionresistant metal such as galvanized iron, copper, aluminum,etc.

Below the evaporator or cooling coils E, a drip pan D is set to catchcondensed moisture from said coils. Drip pan D sits in a notched recessin the platform and is mounted on a closure panel D for an opening inthe front panel of the cabinet to facilitate emptying the drip pan D. Itshould be noted, at this point however, that very little condensationoccurs, since the rapid air-circulation normally prevents the air frombeing chilled below its dew point and since very little moisture isextracted from the food as a result of the minimized contact between itand the owing air.

The display case is closed by a pair of laterally sliding glass doors 61and 63 which overlap slightly when closed. These doors slide in upperand lower guide channels 65 and 67, the latter being preferably providedwith rollers (not shown). The upper channel 65 is considerably deeperthan the lower channel 67, whereby the doors 61 and 63 can be lifted tofree their lower edges for removal (for cleaning, replacement, etc.).

It is preferable that the doors be equipped with automaticclosing-devices, such as springs, weights and pulleys, etc. (not shown)to insure closure thereof when not in use.

While I have disclosed a preferred illustrative embodiment of myinvention, it is to be understood that many changes can be made in thesize, shape, composition and I arrangement of the several parts withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention defined by the subjoinedclaims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A refrigerated pastry display case, comprising: laterally elongatedbase and top panels; vertically elongated end panels; a rear panel; afront panel comprising a lower half-panel and a plurality of transparentdoors forming an upper half-panel; a plurality of long narrow shelvesunderlying said top panel and spaced somewhat from said rear and frontpanels along their edges to form vertical air-passages along the innerfaces of said rear and front panels; a horizontal partition dividingsaid case into an upper display section and a lower refrigeratingsection; refrigerating apparatus, including a forced-circulationair-cooler located beneath said partition; and duct means connectingsaid air-cooler to the top and bottom of said display section to form aclosed air-circulation system producing thin blanket-shaped air streamsbetween the edges of said shelves and the inner surfaces of said rearand front panels.

2. A device according to claim l and additionally comprising arelatively thin condenser paralleling the back surface of the rearpanel, said end panels extending rearwardly beyond said rear panel toform a flue for said condenser and a space for electric Wiring andrefrigerant conduits.

3A A device according to claim 2 and additionally comprising a grillcovering the upper end of said ue, said grill being tilted upwardly soas to prevent circulation-impeding covering of the discharge end of saidflue.

4. A device according to claim 1 and additionally cornprising a secondpartition underlying said first-mentioned partition, said secondpartition extending first horizontally from an end panel and thendownwardly to form a housing for a motor and compressor, thenhorizontally to define a space between itself and said first-mentionedpartition for said air-cooler, and then upwardly inclined to form aconstricting air-duct leading from said aircooler to the opposite endpanel.

5. A device according to claim 4 and in which said rst-mentionedpartition terminates at each end somewhat short of said end panels todefine air-inlet and airoutlet openings communicating between thedisplay sec tion above said first-mentioned partition and the coolingand circulation duct system between and dened by said partitions.

6. A device according to claim 1 and in which said air-cooler comprisesa prefabricated unit including a base structure, a motor-drivencompressor attached thereto, a forced-circulation air-cooling mechanismmounted on a vertical panel carried by said base structure, and acondenser also carried by said base structure, said unit being adaptedfor sliding into said case from the rear thereof, said vertical panelserving as a closure for an opening in the rear panel communicating withthe refrigerating section of said case.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,807,831 Davenport June 2, 1931 2,004,691 Friedrich June 11, 19352,085,832 Schechet July 6, 1937 2,502,893 Schmidt Apr. 4, 1950 2,533,913Booth Dec. 12, 1950 2,555,425 Stern June 5, 1951

